The Druidic Candidate: Can California deal with a Druid for governor?

The Orange County Weekly ^ | March 28, 2002 | Victor D. Infante

[afuturegovernor]

The Druidic Candidate
Can California deal with a Druid for governor?

by Victor D. Infante

In a country just now coming to grips with its millions of Muslim residents, and in a county that not long ago freaked out about the construction of a Hindu temple in Buena Park, a Druid running for governor is bound to raise eyebrows. But Libertarian gubernatorial candidate and Druid Gary Copeland doesn’t just tolerate the flak: he welcomes it, like a guy who wrote the kick-me note he stuck on his own back—even when the flak is fired by fellow Libertarians.

"It doesn’t bother me at all," says Copeland. "It’s not an issue with me. It’s their issue, not mine. When people speak, they speak for who they are. . . . It’s my path to serve, and I’m doing that. I know not everyone’s going to agree, but that’s okay."

But everything’s not entirely okay. Copeland doesn’t mask his annoyance at a Newsweek article that dismissed him as a "whacko" or with postings on a Libertarian e-mail list that chastised him for noting that he’s a Druid in the California voter’s guide, although he didn’t note that he once advocated the use of LSD for spiritual purposes.

Indeed, it seems there’s unease within the party over Copeland’s unconventional religious beliefs—a "culture of peer pressure," Copeland calls it—that one wouldn’t expect from the liberty-loving Libs. It’s as if it’s all right for Copeland to harbor unusual religious beliefs so long as he doesn’t talk much about them.

"Since Libertarians are a third party, we find it difficult to be taken seriously or to be considered by voters," says Mark Murphy, director of a group called Libertarian Activists and a former member of the Orange County Libertarian Party Central Committee. "Obviously, we want voters to see we aren’t any different from many of them. So, when Gary—who’s a friend of mine, by the way—declares himself a Druid, there’s a concern that trying to be taken seriously just went out the window."

Doug Scribner disagrees. "I’m upset that people would find his beliefs a setback to his candidacy. After all, how many Christian politicians openly proclaim their beliefs in ballot guides?" says Scribner, vice chairman of the county’s Libertarian Party.

Copeland remains philosophical about the criticism; indeed, he remains philosophical about everything. When you talk to him, he’s philosophical at a hundred miles per hour and will frequently answer questions as if he’s reading from a Celtic I Ching. Why is he running for governor, for instance? "Because the path brought me here," he says.

It can be kind of frustrating. But beneath it, there’s a refreshing sense that Copeland is deeply invested in his beliefs, both as a Druid and a Libertarian.

"It’s an asset," he says. "I love my Druidry as much as I love my Libertarianism. I describe myself as an existentialist libertarian Druid. If I can’t find an answer from one philosophy, I go to another. Anything that’s indefinable, I go to Druidry."

Copeland says Druidry is a Celtic philosophy of magic, similar to the more popular Wicca. It’s a circle of logic and spirituality based on the ideal of service to others—like The Lion King minus the cheesy soundtrack. One of the central tenets of Druidry is that no one should have authority over anyone but himself or herself—a point Copeland illustrates with a reference to The Lord of the Rings, noting that the ring Frodo carries has "so much power that, even if you did good things with it, it would pervert, subvert and seduce you."

"That is the basis of all Celtic philosophy: that absolute power corrupts absolutely."

That idea led Copeland to the steadfastly secular Libertarian Party. Around 1980, Copeland was working with Timothy Leary’s Brotherhood of Eternal Love to spread the gospel of LSD and enlightenment when he got busted. Fortunately for him, he says, he was screwing the narcotics agent. Not wanting to deal with that, he says, the cops charged him only with low-level possession.

"I was using LSD to be spiritually enlightened," he says. "I was one of those peyote people who for thousands of years had been using hallucinogens to connect to the spiritual world. Who were the cops to tell me I couldn’t?"

Soon after, he began running the Orange County branch of NORML, the marijuana-legalization folks, and soon after that, he fell in with the anti-prohibitionist Libertarians. In 1992, he ran for Congress against Dana Rohrabacher—himself a former Libertarian—and got killed, garnering just 7.7 percent of the vote. In ’96, he ran for county supervisor, beating the Democrat in the race—which tells you something about the state of the Democratic Party in Orange County. He has worked in computers and recently founded his own company, NextCure, which will distribute information on drugs under FDA review.

None of this really gives him a leg up in the gubernatorial race against überbland rivals Davis and Simon, but Copeland would rather run as he is than tailor his biography and message for the mainstream.

"The problem with most politicians is that they’re pretending to be something they’re not," he says. "They’re trying to be something outside their natures. They think people won’t like them if they’re different. But people like to go to a taco stand and try different tacos. I’m not stupid; when I put the Druid thing in, I knew it would be a hook. If I hadn’t done it, I wouldn’t be talking to you right now."

[RnMomof7]

Libertarian bump :>))

[AlGone2001]

Let's take a sample of the California voters and see what they thought of their LPers:

Governor

Governor

Democrat-Gray Davis

1,593,532

Republican-Bill Simon

1,021,096

American Independent-Reihhold S. Gulke

24,172

Libertarian-Gary David Copeland

17,626

---

Lt. Governor

Democrat-Cruz M. Bustamante

1,758,511

Republican-Bruce Mc Pherson

1,658,148

American Independent-James D. King

23,144

Green-Donna J. Warren

32,755

Libertarian-Pat Wright

16,992

---

Secretary of State

Democrat-Kevin Shelley

668,661

Republican-Robert K. Olberg

1,108,243

American Independent-Edward C. Noonan

24,464

Green-Laurence H. Shoup

32,385

Libertarian-Gail K. Lightfoot

17,976

---

Controller

Democrats-Steve Westly

1,035,529

Republican-Tom McClintock

860,261

American Independent-Ernest F. Vance

23,518

Green-Laura Wells

26,892

Natural Law-J. Carlos Aguirre

4,212

 

---

Treasurer

Democrat-Philip Angelides

1,711,711

Republican-Phillip Gregory Conlon

916,262

American Independent-Nathan E. Johnson

23,682

Green-Jeanne-Marie Rosenmeier

32,245

Libertarian-Marian Smithson

17,655

---

Attorney General

Democrat-Bill Lockyer

1,554,880

Republican-Dick Ackerman

1,664,533

American Independent-Diane B. Templin

24,842

Green-Glen Freeman Mowrer

32,224

Libertarian-Ed Kuwatch

17,541

Insurance Commissioner

Sup. of Public Instruction

U.S. Congress

District 1     99,775 total votes

Democrat-Mike Thompson-59,788 or 60%

Republican-Lawrence R. Wiesner-39,307 or 39%

Libertarian-Kevin Bastian-680 or .7%

District 2  113,954 total votes

Democrat-Mike Johnson-23,949 or 21%

Republican-Wally Herger-65,586 or 58%

Libertarian-Charles R. Martin-657 or .6%

Natural Law-Patrice Thiessen-88 or .07%

District 3    102505 total votes

Democrat-Howard Beeman-38,730 or 38%

Republican-Doug Ose-62,268 or 61%

Libertarian-Douglas Arthur Tuma-507 or .5%

District 4     132,939 total votes

Democrat-Mark A. Norberg-41,266 or 31%

Republican-John T. Doolittle-70,386 or 53%

Libertarian-Allen M. Roberts-662 or .05%

District 5    66,730 total votes

Democrat-Robert T. Matsui-44,628 or 67%

Republican-Richard Frankhuizen-21,845 or 33%

Libertarian-Timothy E. Roloff -257 or .04%

District 6    110,441 total votes

Democrat-Lynn Woolsey-59,877   80.6 or

Republican-Paul L. Erickson-35,201 or

Libertarian-Richard Barton-613 or

Reform-Jeff Rainforth-262 or

[Bernard Marx]

The Libertarian candidate for Lt. Governor, Pat Wright, is a ferret legalization activist! That's his main issue: making it legal to own ferrets in California.

With a Druid/Ferret combo, Libertarians really have their eyes on the Big Issues in CA politics. I'm sure they'll make a clean sweep in the elections -- not!

[hattend]

Gee, this reporter gave that much space in a paper for a person who will get <.000001% of the general vote.

I wonder how much $$ he owed the candidate.

[Destructor]

"Why are you asking me questions when you haven't answered mine? Once again, you stated that all who bash Bush are Libertarians. Do you stand by that ridiculous assertion?"

I not only answered your question I tried to give a couple of examples of the crap I've been reading on FR here lately. Was my answer not acceptable, or are you trying to pick a fight again Irish?

[Mr. Thorne]

Arbor Day! One more day off for state workers...

[dpwiener]

Your numbers are from the March, 2002 primary election, which was not an open primary. Only registered Libertarians could vote in the Libertarian primary. So Copeland's vote total in November, while still relatively small, will probably be ten times what he got in March because many non-libertarians will vote for him at that time.

[Cable225]

Bump so I can find this thread later. Between this and the Ickes thread, I'm gonna be giggling all night.

[HalfIrish]

There are plenty of Republicans who have bashed Bush (by your definition of bash, which is simply calling attention to his lie) over CFR. You know it. I know it. Everyone knows it.

You can call your half-hearted, semi-admission that you were wrong to blame Libertarians for all the posts critical of Bush an answer if you'd like to. It looked like a bald-faced lie to me or at least an idiotic statement made without thinking.

In answer to your question, I am a registered Republican who thinks too many Libertarians are whacky.

[afuturegovernor]

The man supporting the legalization of ferrats and an animal sacificer running as Libertanrians for Governor and Lt. Governor of California!

Haha!

[nickcarraway]

This guy can't win until he seals up his base of core druid voters.

[jlogajan]

the original Druids died out long ago, this modern version is a complete fabrication churned up by fanciful, over-imaginative individuals with little theological or historical background, much like Wicca.

All religions, new or old, are "... complete fabrications churned up by fanciful, over-imaginative individuals...."

[Brett66]

A Druid? Sounds like a natural democrat, he should join them.

[afuturegovernor]

So Copeland's vote total in November, while still relatively small, will probably be ten times what he got in March because many non-libertarians will vote for him at that time.

So instead of .001% of the vote he gets .01% of the vote?

[gc4nra]

"Can California deal with a Druid for governor?"

I thought we already were!

[dpwiener]

Although everyone on this thread is having fun commenting on Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Gary Copeland and his Druidic religion, no one seems to appreciate the practical political consequences.

Remember, this is California. And a lot of Californians have positive feelings towards Druids and Wiccans (and anybody else who's "unconventional"). And of those who are so favorably inclined, I'd venture to guess that a much higher percentage are Democrats than Republicans. And a lot of those Democrats are rather disenchanted with Gray Davis, but they could never bring themselves to vote for Bill Simon.

So for all of you Bill Simon fans, wouldn't it be nice if a substantial number of potential Davis votes went instead to Gary Copeland? This is a case in which the Libertarian could easily end up siphoning off far more Democratic votes than Republican votes. Perhaps you should all be thinking of ways to promote Gary's candidacy (in a well-targeted fashion).

[Eagle Eye]

Can't see how this is even as bad as the party that refused to admit evidence against clinton during the impeachment trial. This guy may be 'different', but unlike a certain party's elected officials, he's not yet proven to be tolerant of treason. And unlike the loyal voters of that same party, he isn't supporting the treasonous b@st@ards the same way those 'loyal' voters are.

[dpwiener]

So instead of .001% of the vote he gets .01% of the vote?

Not quite that small. The Libertarian candidate for Governor in 1998 got 0.9% of the vote. And the Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate in 2000 got 1.8% of the vote.

[FormerLib]

All religions, new or old, are "... complete fabrications churned up by fanciful, over-imaginative individuals...."

I was quoting facts, sir. The above is merely your opinion.

[jlogajan]

The above is merely your opinion.

Hardly. "Old" religions have had 1000's of years to prove their claims -- and have failed miserably to do so.